I have to say: it's nice to see an acquisition where the product is valued enough to not be summarily taken out back and shot. I'm curious how it fits into Facebook's product strategy though. It doesn't seem to be their style to keep a brand around that doesn't help their main brand somehow.
FriendFeed wasn't taken out back and shot either -- it's still running, albeit with some broken features. It doesn't hurt Facebook to leave a service running.
With Instagram, I think it's a case of user acquisition trumping product strategy. If lots of people are joining Instagram, Facebook wants to own it regardless of how it fits with their main brand.
+1. It really is nice and the news coming from acquirer than the acquired makes it sound better. That just makes it that much more difficult for them to say "it is no longer a service that interacts with other social networks" without a public backlash among user community. Good to see the commitment coming from Zuckerberg.
